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The set-top box market is currently flooded with many cheap Android boxes, but they tend to offer limited remote access plus expansion capability, so it's about time that something more exciting popped up. One such candidate is the EzeeCube, which aims to be an idiot-proof media hub with three main selling points: Auto-sync content across multiple platforms (Android, iOS, Windows and OS X); simple initial setup for accessing hub content from anywhere; and cable-free expansion that lets you stack up to four modules. We're talking about slapping on an extra hard drive, a Blu-ray drive, a TV tuner and even a retro gaming module that will bring your dusty SNES and Sega Mega Drive / Genesis cartridges back to life. No messy cables here.

The Mi Pad wasn't Xiaomi's only announcement today. Following the Chinese company's first smart TV from last September, today it has unveiled a slightly larger model with a nice surprise: 4K for just CN¥3,999 or about $640! Like its affordable predecessor, this 49-inch TV comes with built-in Android (with MIUI TV skin), though you can easily side-load other TV apps. On the hardware side, you'll find a 4K 3D panel made by either LG or CSOT within a 6.2mm aluminum bezel, and underneath that lies a MediaTek MStar 6A918 chip (1.45GHz quad-core CPU, Mali-450 MP4 GPU) plus 2GB of RAM to drive all those pixels. On top of the built-in 8GB space, you also get to add up to 64GB of storage via microSD.

You may have already followed the announcement of Sony's Xperia Z2 and Xperia Z2 Tablet last week, but did you know that they are also the first mobile devices to feature MHL 3.0? For those who haven't caught up, this standard allows 4K video output -- over a bandwidth of 6 Gbps -- from a micro-USB port, while giving back up to 10W of power to keep your phone or tablet juiced up. Better yet, you also get a dedicated 75 Mbps channel for data transfer, as opposed to just 1 Mbps in earlier versions, which is only enough for HID input (like keyboard, touchscreen, mouse and even gesture control). It's still snail pace compared to the likes of USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt, but at least you can now transfer files to and from your mobile device over the same cable. Besides, it's possible to achieve a higher transfer rate of up to 600 Mbps using special connectors, such as USB 3.0's 10-pin configuration.

At MWC last week, Silicon Image demoed MHL 3.0 -- powered by its SiI8620 transmitter chip -- working between an Xperia Z2 and a Sony 4K TV, with the bonus capability of navigating through the phone using the TV's remote. The company also showed off file transfer between a USB drive and a Snapdragon 800 development board over MHL 3.0, though products (likely monitors, set-top boxes and docks) that support this feature won't be out until later this year. For now, you can check out our demo video after the break.

Many people were excited by the announcement that this year's Super Bowl would be streamed online. But this came with a catch on smartphones -- the need to go through Verizon's NFL Mobile service rather than the Fox Sports Go app. And that's nothing new, as most networks often require some sort of subscription for access to live or on-demand content. A&E, CNN, MTV, NBC Sports -- they all do it, and the list goes on and on.

Last week, the NFL announced Now, its new network tailored for the era of the internet. However, despite the league trying to do something novel, a quick look at the comments from our recently published article about the release tells you that on-demand content isn't enough, particularly for those who have decided to cut the [pay-TV] cord. For those people, the lack of live games overshadows most everything NFL Now will bring to the table when it launches in July -- namely, an online channel with a personalized experience accessible on different platforms all over the world.

Here's yet another option for wirelessly mirroring your computer screen to another display, but don't worry: This one is rather impressive. Airtame, the creation of a group of Danish folks, is an HDMI dongle that links your PC -- be it running Windows, OS X or Linux -- to whatever display it's plugged into over WiFi. Installation is a breeze: All you need on the PC side is just the software, and from there you can choose which dongles to beam your screen to. Yes, dongles, because you really can beam one PC to multiple screens, thus beating Miracast. We also played a game on one of the laptops, and the response time on the remote display was surprisingly good.

Airtame's Indiegogo campaign has long reached its $160,000 goal, but you can still pre-order this $89 dongle in the remaining nine days left. Do also check out our video from the CES show floor after the break.

We've had early previews thanks to leaks, but Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi -- more recently known as the new home of former Google exec Hugo Barra -- just took the wraps off of a new flagship Android phone and smart TV. The MI3 candy bar phone is available with either a 1.8GHz Tegra 4 processor or Snapdragon 800 CPU (the more powerful MSM8974AB variant), with the former heading to China Mobile's TD-SCDMA network, while the latter landing on China Unicom's WCDMA network and China Telecom's CDMA2000 network. Both flavors sport a 5-inch 1080p IPS LCD built by Sharp or LG with "ultra sensitive touch" that works even when the user has wet hands or has gloves on.

Quad-core smart TVs? Move over, Samsung and Haier, because another company's now joining the party. At a press event in Beijing yesterday, Chinese video content provider LeTV announced its first TV series dubbed "Super TV." Despite the cheesy name, there are a handful of big names behind it: Kai-Fu Lee's Innovation Works, Qualcomm, Foxconn and Sharp. The last two aren't surprising considering Foxconn's parent company, Hon Hai, is an investor of Sharp as well as LeTV. It's also worth noting, though, that Hon Hai already has a deal with RadioShack to make and sell a 60-inch TV, the RS60-V1, in China since January.

The flagship X60 (pictured above at GMIC Beijing) features an aluminum alloy body that encases Sharp's 10th-generation 60-inch 1080p panel -- as featured on the RadioShack TV -- with 120Hz 3D, on top of a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Prime MPQ8064 (with 2GB of RAM and Adreno 320 graphics), dual-band WiFi and S/PDIF optical output. You can also add an optional 2.4GHz gyroscopic remote control and a PrimeSense motion sensor just for giggles. But most importantly, LeTV now streams over 2,000 TV apps as well as some 90,000 TV episodes and 5,000 movies for free (LeTV claims to own the rights to 95 percent of the video content). So, the ¥6,999 or $1,140 price tag seems a steal for the X60. There will also be a 39-inch 1080p (likely 2D only), dual-core S40 model priced at ¥1,999 or about $330, and both TVs will be available by the end of June.

We didn't really get to see the Plair in action when we last saw it at CES, but luckily, it's here with us at Expand 2013! This time round we have a better understanding of what makes this $99, micro-USB-powered HDMI dongle so special: not only can you beam native video clips from your mobile device (through an iOS or Android app) or your desktop Chrome browser's extension to it, but the Plair can also grab the video source from your current page in Chrome and then stream the clip independently -- as in once the video's started, you can shut your computer down and still keep the stream going on your TV! You can actually see this demonstrated in our video after the break, where we streamed an episode from NBC's Saturday Night Live website through a WiFi network (but the Plair can also create its own hotspot for direct WiFi connection, which is handy for avoiding slow hotel networks).

In our opinion, the Plair is a neat little gadget for its price, but you'll have to wait until early April for the next batch coming off the production line. Interested buyers will be able to order a Plair on its website around then.

Follow all of Engadget's Expand coverage live from San Francisco right here!

One of ASUS' most significant announcements at CES this year is the Google TV-powered Qube. Just as the name suggests, the device comes in the shape of a cube, with an IR receiver on the front side, a USB port on the right, and a bunch more on the back: HDMI-in, HDMI-out, another USB port, RJ-45 and IR-out. Internally the Qube packs a Marvell Armada 1500 chipset with 1GB of RAM and 4GB of flash storage. Like the chassis, the Qube's interface also features a rotating cube, but that's pretty much the only thing special about it so far.

The Qube naturally comes with its very own remote control, and with the exception of the lack of a numpad it comes with all the standard buttons, and on the other side it has a QWERTY keyboard. It's worth pointing out that there's also a voice command button as well as motion-sensing, thus making the most out of Google TV ver.3. Not a fan of the remote control? Then you can simply download an app onto your Nexus 7 or any Android device to get the same functions.

In terms of availability, ASUS plans to launch the Qube in the US in around March for around $150. For the mean time, grab yourself a beverage and check out the demo video after the break.

Many in the Windows Media Center community were afraid that Windows 8 would mark the end of Media Center, while others thought it would be like Notepad -- present, but unchanged. In the end both were wrong as Microsoft announced Media Center would be available as an add-on to Windows 8. Until now though, we didn't know exactly how that process would work. Steven Sinofsky outlined on the Building Windows 8 blog how users will be able to use Add Features to Windows 8 in Control Panel and purchase the same great Media Center experience that was included in Windows 7 Premium and Pro. The price is still unannounced but is expect to be "in line with marginal costs" -- whatever that means. The price paid will cover the royalties for the required codecs to support broadcast TV and DVD playback (DVDs still won't play in Media Player). One codec that will be supported in all version of Windows 8, but will require the computer maker to license the codec directly, is Dolby Digital Plus. So yeah, something else that was included in Windows 7 for free. We're glad it's there, but wish we'd get something new for the new premium price. Like most, we'll probably hold on to our Windows 7 HTPC a little bit longer.

For the third CES in a row, our old friend Ted Schilowitz has stopped by to let us drool over Red's latest high-end cameras. And boy, this is one helluva camera we have this time. You may recall that last year we were shown a working Scarlet prototype with 3K video resolution and a fixed lens; but fast forward to 2012 and we have the Scarlet-X, a sturdy 4K beast that not only supports interchangeable lens, but it's also actually out on the market. Obviously, the $9,700 base price (excluding the Canon EF lens mount; Nikon and Leica mounts coming soon) is aimed at film studios instead of us regular Joes, but Ted was kind enough to spend a whole afternoon showing us all the goodness on the Scarlet-X -- we even got to play with it on the CES show floor, and unsurprisingly, this Red kit became quite the celebrity. Read on to find out how we got on with it.

If you're wondering in which direction the developers over at Boxee may be thinking about heading you can consider the questions in the latest survey mailed out to users. The second round of questions gauges the interest people may have in subscribing to premium channels over the internet, like HBO or Showtime and how much they would be willing to pay, with another question focusing on the possibility of pay-per-view football games. Of course, actually negotiating for access to premium channels (HBO Go works through the browser after the v1.1 update) or anything NFL Sunday Ticket-related is a more complicated issue, but it is a possibility. Previous polls checked the temperature on features we've seen added like Netflix or a $199 price tag for the Boxee Box, and things that haven't shown up so far like CableCARD / OTA support or a version for videogame consoles. Get your opinion counted at the source link and yes, there is a write in portion for you to request updates for the PC version.

In case you haven't heard this morning, Nikon's just lifted the curtains on its 16.2 megapixel D7000 imager for the "social photographer" market, and naturally, we had to get our hands on it. This dual SDXC-wielding DSLR closely resembles the slightly lighter D90, but the little superficial tweaks didn't escape our eyes: the first thing we noticed was that the continuous shooting option button -- previously on right-hand side of the top screen -- has been transformed into a secondary dial on the left. We found this to be slightly fiddly as we had to press on a tiny neighboring unlock button to rotate said dial. There's also a new live view switch and video record button (à la D3100), which are more intuitive than the D90's configuration. As for ergonomics, the D7000's grip is also very comparable with the D90's, except we prefer the latter's for its longer piece of rubber grip to cover the full length of our right thumb. More after the break.

After breaking down every difference we could think of between the TiVo Premiere and a Windows Media Center CableCARD setup, we're wondering what you feel is really important . If you're a heavy TV watcher, a DVR is a must, and if you're on this site, we're assuming it's connected to an HDTV. But if you had to narrow it down to one extra feature, what would win out, whether it's a UI you can't live without, the ability to schedule recordings from anywhere, access to internet video or just having enough capacity to record any and everything you want to watch, let us know what you're checking off first.

While it's not too difficult to see what's going on inside your DVR from anywhere in the world these days, keeping an eye on what's happening inside your house is sadly a little bit more complicated. Sure, there are solutions, but few are entirely plug and play -- and those that are tend to be far from affordable. Logitech's new Alert system is certainly easy to set up and, at around $300, won't exactly break the bank. Announced today and available later this month it's a simple, albeit somewhat limited, solution for home security and remote monitoring of... well... anything you can point a camera at. And, with mobile apps for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android, you can do that monitoring from just about anywhere. Click on through for the full details, some early impressions, and a little sample video.